We helped this award-winning newspaper in northern Idaho drive an additional 18-20 pages each day for two years, increasing revenue $100,000 per month in the middle of a recession.

When the going gets tough, some newspapers cut back on training the way some businesses cut back on advertising. The Coeur d'Alene Press went the other way and doubled down on their future. We brought our program in and taught their ad staff, managers, and designers how to drive significant and sustained ad sales.

Each ad rep stopped selling space and became "response consultants", creating entire strategies for their businesses. This included the right use of their medium and what message they should be communicating. Explained the right way, they were able to prove to their local businesses, before they ran, that they'll get a significant response, reducing the advertisers hesitance in a tough economy and driving sales--and response--through the roof.

The Danville Commercial News

In first month after we conducted our program at the Commercial News, they sold $203,000 worth of new business directly attributed to this course and were on track for $1 million before year end.

As their ad director wrote, "You'll use every bit of this course and you'll use it day in and day out. What ends up happening is you get clients for life. You'll see your sales staff have an enthusiasm that wasn't there before.'"

This 11,000 daily conducted our silver program, working with the ad reps for two mornings on-site as well as shorter sessions for their managers and designers as well as a 90-minute session for their business community.

One-on-one target account sessions via the Web with each ad rep ensured a quick success for the ad reps (which encouraged them to keep using the techniques) as well as fast revenue for the newspaper.

The Danbury News-Times

$45,000 per month in added revenue for a year

The publisher of the Danbury News-Times had himself learned our ad sales system when he was just starting out at a small weekly and credited our approach as one of the most significant reasons he had experienced such success in his career.

Once he was hired as publisher, he brought us in to teach our program to his new staff, setting a goal for each ad rep to apply the new techniques to just one prospect. After that success, he had the ad rep chose another. Then another.

By the end of the month, the newspaper had sold $45,000 worth of contracts and sales continued to increase by the same rate throughout the year.

The Daily Interlake

$300,000 in one week

After hearing about a sister publication's success using our approach, the publisher of The Daily Interlake brought us in to work with his ad reps, managers, designers, and local businesses.

A year later, we were asked to help create and present to over 50 high-potential businesses, including highly strategic and stunning spec ads.

In one week, we closed $300,000 of business. While we've stopped creating custom presentations and selling directly to local businesses, we've developed something better.

We've built an affordable series of videos around each presentation and stunning ad strategy, leading the ad reps, step-by-step, through the entire process with nearly 50 high-potential categories. As one ad rep said, "set 'em up for me and I'll knock them down".

The Tacoma News-Tribune

$100,000 in one week, $700,000 within 6 weeks

We had helped the advertising director previously at two other newspapers and when he was hired at the News-Tribune, he brought us in again.

As a strong believer in goals, at the outset of the course he told the ad managers that he expected $6,000 in revenue each week from this course, including the current week the training took place.

As you can imagine, it was a lively session and before the week was out, managers had already come back with $100,000 worth of contracts in their downtime from training (participants still have plenty of time to sell between our sessions) and $700,000 shortly after that.

While our current and prospective advertiser seminars can drive some strong interest and revenue, we believe in this case it was the ad director's goals that made the difference.

Bermuda Royal Gazette

$750,000 in revenue

We've had the great fortune of working with the Bermuda Royal Gazette multiple times throughout the years.

As it often happens, we help our clients pursue revenue in their market. On one occasion, they had just lost an organic grocery store who had been spending $100,000 each year.

Working in the background, we analyzed as much information the ad rep could secure and then, applying the same techniques that we teach, we created a presentation making a case why the medium was solid and the new message was going to change everything.

We prepped the ad rep and sent him on the call. The grocery store signed a $200,000 contract on the spot. It's successes like this that provides our clients with quick revenue but, more importantly, cements the ad reps' buy-in that our approach is something they should be using on every call.

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What is Response Oriented Selling?

A revolutionary approach to selling

local print and digital advertising

used by over 1,000 publications worldwide.

We teach local daily, weekly, and monthly publications (and individual ad reps) a complete but very different kind of approach to ad sales focusing on selling response rather than the attributes of the media.

It makes your ad rep significantly more effective at every stage of the call: recognizing hidden revenue, breaking through objections like "I'm all set", "I have no money", "you're too expensive", "print is dead", "I only do social media", asking the right questions, analyzing the information, creating a bullet-proof presentation, presenting it, and overcoming any remaining objections.

We say "any remaining objections" because, with our approach, the prospective advertiser overcomes his own objections well before the presentation is ever made, making closing the sale an easy and enjoyable experience for the ad rep and the local business.

Many of our clients believe it contains the missing key to higher ad revenue they didn't even realize they were missing.

We understand that while most ad reps are taught to sell quality editorial, readership, impressions, demographics, and rates (maybe with a pretty spec ad thrown in), it's not enough to get local businesses to run. That's because a local business doesn't really care about these things.

All they want to know is "will I get a response?" You see, they've learned over the years that even when their ad is reaching enough of the right people in the right places, they often still don't get a response.

They also believe response is unpredictable. So they run as small as they possibly can to limit their risk. Or run in the cheapest publication. Or not at all. They start to believe what they've heard, that print and even paid digital is dead. So they go on social media, which doesn't work either, but at least they get no response there for free.

This is the environment your ad reps walk into every day. It's discouraging, a bit humiliating, and leads to high employee turnover and reduced sales worse than anything a changing industry can cause.

By selling advertising in this difficult environment and believing there must be a better solution, we developed a different approach from the ground up where we focus our efforts on selling the overall response package, not just the vehicle.

Not just making pretty spec ads, but teaching ad reps how to fix the incorrect and tightly held beliefs local advertisers have and then showing them how to actually prove, using the prospect's new belief system, why response will occur beyond a doubt.

1,000+ newspapers later, we've become known by newspapers and their ad reps as the easiest, most effective way to bring in significant revenue. With a selling style that is not only comfortable for the ad rep to use, but keeps the advertiser's interests on the same level as the newspaper's, allowing everyone to sleep at night. More...

One-on-one target sessionsEnsures ad reps have an immediate positive experience. We hold their hand throughout the entire sales processes their first attempt.

Weekly video tutorials and specsPuts the techniques into action (and the affect to your bottom line) by giving you a new presentation to give each week including a stunning spec ad, Powerpoint, and how-to videos showing how to sell it.

Monthly live WebinarsKeeps your staff current with monthly live sessions for new ad reps as well as dive deeper into different concepts.

Inbound lead generationGets great prospects to reveal themselves on your Web site then we nurture them until they're ready to be contacted (if they don't contact you first). We can even help sell them.

Prospective advertiser seminarSells your business community all at once, either live on-site or via a Webinar, without looking at all like you're selling.

Ongoing supportEnsures as your ad reps, managers, and designers begin using the techniques that there's someone there to coach them, even if their manager is unavailable.

New hires programThis 150-page course reduces the lag time between a brand new ad rep being hired and stabilizing their territory. Gets them to the skill level of competing publications.

Whether you're a big daily, a small monthly, a startup, or an individual ad rep, there's a program specifically tailored to you.

Just starting a publication? Ensure you bring in that critical revenue. More

Smaller dailies and weekly groups

A hybrid of on-site and web-based training but the same great techniques. More

Individual ad reps

Want to get to the next level with your ad sales without your peers? More

Newbies

No experience? Get on par with your competition's ad reps with this course. More

Very small newspapers

Entirely web-based course for smaller pubs with very small budgets. More

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE 25-PAGE E-BOOK

The 7 Essential Elements Every Ad Sales Training

Program Needs to Drive Major Revenue

What's in it?

Newspapers who generate dramatic, sustained revenue increases from their ad sales training do certain things that the less successful ones don't. I've witnessed this firsthand while working with over 1,000 publications throughout the years.

They've figured out the secret to making any training program drive major revenue is to follow 7 essential steps that are both easy and powerful.

I've put together a free, 25-page e-book to share these secrets. They'll ensure your next training initiative--either your own or one you bring in--is an unprecedented success.

ABOUT THIS SITE | This site is the home of Bob McInnis' Response Oriented Selling newspaper ad sales training program. It also shares a number of insights as well as offers a basic new hires program for brand new ad reps just looking to stabilize their territory.